Farewell to mediocrity

Is it possible to reach Utopia in this world
A friend, Fatih, and i were discussing this idea last night
He argued that it is impossible to reach utopia because doomsday will come and the world will become worse regardless of what we do.

I argued that the idea of doomsday is a dangerous one, because if the whole world will become awful anyway then what is the point of trying to change the world for the better
if you tell a person that something is impossible what is their motivation to try?
I dont believe that this world will ever be perfect, especially when i walk through a college campus here in Turkey and people marvel at the fact that i am in fact a black girl. but i always believe it is possible to change the world despite all that is wrong.

I wonder at the fact that some students have never seen a black person in their lives...living spoiled in America i thought the world was getting used to the fact that people of every color and ever ethnic background, and religious background are everywhere. Not so here in Turkey, the only other black people i have seen live in the impoverished areas of town which most university students don't venture to see.

You see the university students are just as bad as university students in America. the majority of them dont volunteer or interact with the homeless and the impoverished at all...they get on a shuttle bus that drives them straight past all the poor areas of town with a layer of glass and air conditioning between them and the outside world. The only interaction they get with the "common people" is when they brush past them quickly at night on the way to a club or a bar.

It's sad really...how sheltered they allow themselves to be, and i'm not simply talking about turkish people. I'm also speaking of the ignorant college students i go to class with who cannot tell the difference between Pakistan and Iran. The American students who think they are so educated but still think that everyone in the middle east speaks the same languge. They are no better then the turkish students that wonder if they rub my skin will the color come off.

I am not angry at them for living in their ignorance happily. I am sad for them, really and truly sad. it must be a small shallow pool they swim in....i wish i could show them the ocean and all the colors and space, and ideas floating about, but you cannot force someone to see when they will not open their eyes.

So this blog is to all the amazing people i have met and have yet to meet...all the people who open your eyes to experiences, and volunteer to help the less fortunate, people who know how to cook, people who read books, people who admit when they are wrong...people who want to learn more, people who year to study and travel, and people who have traveled...this blog is to all those with open eyes...who see the sadness and the plight of this world but refuse to just get on their shuttle bus and pretend it all doesn't exist...this one is for you....you can say "Farewell to mediocrity"

xox
Jessi